Published: Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 09:44 AM.

Turnout is usually in the single-digit percentages for runoffs, and election officials expect that to be the case in the race for the District 6 Republican nomination between Rockingham County district attorney Phil Berger Jr. and Mark Walker, a former staff pastor at Lawndale Baptist Church.

The winner will face Democrat Laura Fjeld in November.

But in Guilford County, the 1,300 civilian absentee ballots requested in this race is higher than those requested for the primary.

And as of Wednesday, halfway through early voting, 557 people — 72 in High Point and 480 in Greensboro — have cast ballots at the Guilford County sites.

“Turnout has been steady — one comes in, one leaves kind of deal,” said Daniel Lassiter, elections technical specialist at the Guilford County Elections Board.

As of Wednesday in Rockingham County, 319 people already have cast votes — a good start for a runoff, election officials said, even if it’s only a small percentage of the county’s tens of thousands of voters.

Turnout is usually in the single-digit percentages for runoffs, and election officials expect that to be the case in the race for the District 6 Republican nomination between Rockingham County district attorney Phil Berger Jr. and Mark Walker, a former staff pastor at Lawndale Baptist Church.

The winner will face Democrat Laura Fjeld in November.

But in Guilford County, the 1,300 civilian absentee ballots requested in this race is higher than those requested for the primary.

And as of Wednesday, halfway through early voting, 557 people — 72 in High Point and 480 in Greensboro — have cast ballots at the Guilford County sites.

“Turnout has been steady — one comes in, one leaves kind of deal,” said Daniel Lassiter, elections technical specialist at the Guilford County Elections Board.

As of Wednesday in Rockingham County, 319 people already have cast votes — a good start for a runoff, election officials said, even if it’s only a small percentage of the county’s tens of thousands of voters.

The 411 absentee ballots requested through her office is even higher than for the May primary, said Tina Cardwell, director of Rockingham County’s board of elections.

The record for a runoff in recent decades has been 1,745 in 2010 for the N.C. Senate race between Democrat Elaine Marshall and Republican Cal Cunningham.

“If it continues, we are on track to vote more than on previous second primaries,” said Cardwell.

The runoff is only for District 6 and only for Republicans who voted in the May primary, and some unaffiliated voters.

It’s unknown whose supporters are driving up the numbers, whether it’s a split, or even whether the trend will continue.